The Verde Valley Cultural Collective debuted its new rotating art exhibit at the Camp Verde Community Library on Thursday, Dec. 5. The show, which will run for two months, features visual works in a variety of styles and mediums, including jewelry and watercolors, created by artists from Camp Verde and Rimrock.
“We started this last year and we have up to over 60 members now,” VVCC co-founder Barry Brennan said. “The mission of the VVCC is to provide venues for artists in a way that they can be recognized and display their work in the Verde Valley.”
VVCC will rotate the works on display every two weeks since the library does not have enough space to display the entire exhibit at once, and some of the participating artists may present new works as part of the exhibit.
Marjory Boyer is exhibiting two works in the first cohort, “Sweetie Pie,” a watercolor painting, and “The Garden Shed,” an acrylic painting. Boyer worked in graphic design as an art director for a Phoenix billboard company and now farms in Camp Verde. She said she often takes photographs during her travels and then paints from those reference images, which have included such destinations such as Tybee Island, Ga. and Balboa Island, Calif.
“I want to start taking more pictures of the Verde Valley and start focusing on the river and our beautiful landscapes,” Boyer said.
Debra Lynch said she finds much of her artistic inspiration in found objects at local thrift stores, along sidewalks or in parking lots, which she incorporates into her mixed media works such as “Reliquary,” a collage of found objects.
“[A] reliquary is something very ornate created to house [the material remains] of a saint,” Lynch said. “When I was in Italy, I saw reliquaries, and when I came home, I was on Pinterest and this woman’s art came up that was along this line. And I thought, I’m going to make my own reliquary. So everything in there is something that means something to me [such as] coffee … and the foil from the top of a bottle of wine from when I was in Italy.”
She added that bees are also a recurring motif in “Reliquary,” since the name Deborah is derived from the Hebrew word for bee, “d’vorah.”
Sheri Morris said that working in oils, as she did in “Beasley Flats,” offers her a greater degree of freedom and that she eschews using canvas, preferring to work on wood.
“That way, if I make mistakes, I can scrape forever and they’re gone,” Morris said.
Patty Miller will be showcasing her pottery, paintings and even poetry, which she submitted in lieu of an artist biography.
“These days I work mostly in water, mixable oils and acrylics. I used to do clay sculptures, but I used to do them too big, so I can’t lift those things anymore,” Miller said. “I’ve started to come down in size in my paintings. My work is very personal.”
As an example, Miller pointed to her painting of a mother owl protecting her young, which required applying paint with her fingers.
“When you get into painting the [owl’s] eyes and then you go back into a brush or something, if you need to do it more delicately, you can do all the big stuff with your fingers,” Miller said. “And the vase is another one I made in a class that I gave … I guide people into making something that is beautiful to them.”
Lynne Spencer is emphasizing pointillism with “I Need Pink,” drawn using a micron pen and colored pencil to provide the pink, and used art markers to create a portrait of Stephen Sondheim titled “Southern Gentleman.”
“As much as I love my pencils, I also love to try other mediums,” Spencer wrote in her artist statement. “In between colored pencil portraits, I find I have to do a stippling piece. Many think all those dots would drive them crazy, while I find the process very relaxing. I’ve also discovered the challenge of scratchboard, which trains you to think in a different way.”
“We want to thank the Camp Verde Community Library for providing their gallery as a venue for our display, including all the support they give us in making this event a success,” Brennan said.
